Disputes

Royal Mail, advised by a team from Ashurst, has been unable to fend off a £50m fine from Ofcom, after an investigation into the business’s practices in 2014 found the delivery giant had “abused its dominant position in bulk mail delivery”. Three-partner firm Towerhouse advised Whistl, then known as TNT, which was trying to break into […]

Brick Court Chambers has announced a reshuffling of its clerking structure after its senior clerking vanguard of Julian Hawes and Ian Moyler were replaced by Tony Burgess and Paul Dennison. Hawes will stay on at Brick Court where he will become its director of clerking, while Moyler has left the set after four decades to […]

Backhouse Jones, alongside Addleshaw Goddard, has filed an application on behalf of 3,500 clients in proceedings against nine truck manufacturers which, if successful, could be worth as much as £5bn. The two firms have filed the joint application for a collective proceedings order (CPO) with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). Should the CAT give the […]

The Property Alliance Group’s (PAG) two-year battle with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has ended after the Supreme Court dismissed a final appeal from the Manchester-based property developer. Lords Kerr, Sumption and Hughes agreed with the 2 March judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal as well as ordered PAG to pay RBS’s […]

2017 represented a five-year high in both fee income and headcount for the 50 largest litigation practices in the London market, research from The Lawyer can reveal. Data gathered for the The Lawyer Litigation Top 50 2018 indicate that practices generated $2.44bn (£1.86bn) in 2017 after an 11.2 per cent increase in litigation turnover, growing from $2.19bn (£1.67bn). The 50 […]

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Simmons & Simmons are among the firms understood to be advising after the Serious Fraud Office confirmed it was looking to reinstate criminal charges against Barclays Bank. Barclays yesterday said the SFO made an application to the High Court to reinstate charges related to the bank’s capital raisings in 2008. […]

With over a month to go before the arrival of new director Lisa Osofsky, the Serious Fraud Office has released the remuneration details of her predecessor David Green as part of its annual accounts. The SFO’s accounts show that Green’s pay was frozen at up to £245,000 in his last year in charge, while general counsel […]

Litigation funder Vannin Capital has hired Fountain Court Chambers deputy senior clerk Paul Martenstyn as managing director and he will join its London office this October. Martenstyn has spent the last decade at Fountain Court, joining in 2008 as a clerk before being named to his current role three years later. Prior to joining the […]

City litigation heavyweights are preparing for the latest case between Ukrainian lender PrivatBank and its former owners, the Ukrainian oligarchs Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Igor Kolomoisky, which could be worth up to $2.6bn (£2bn). Partners from Hogan Lovells, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Fieldfisher and Pinsent Masons will face off in the High Court as PrivatBank alleges […]

With less than three months to go to trial, Fountain Court Chambers has been brought in to act for Robert Tchenguiz in his feud with Grant Thornton after he swapped incumbent adviser Stephenson Harwood for Debevoise & Plimpton. It is understood that Fountain Court silks Stephen Rubin QC and Charles Béar QC are now being instructed by […]

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton-represented Google has been hit with a record £3.8bn (€4.3bn) fine by the European Union Commission (EC) for breaching EU antitrust rules. This is the second record EC antitrust fine that Google has been hit with in two years, following a £2.1bn (€2.4bn) fine in 2017, both of which were pursued […]

Clifford Chance is set to reduce the number of chambers it instructs, after an internal survey of its litigation practice revealed it was instructing too many individual sets. The Lawyer understands that senior management at the magic circle firm surveyed the entire practice to better understand the range of sets that were being instructed. A […]

A High Court judge has slammed Pinsent Masons for its actions following the death of Russian oligarch Nikolay Glushkov, accusing the firm of having lost “sight of any basic standard of decent and compassionate behaviour” in a long-running case brought by Russian airline Aeroflot. The litigation centered around allegations made against, among others, the late Russian oligarch […]

Eversheds Sutherland has secured a decision to appeal a landmark High Court judgment for the pension trustees of the Linklaters-represented British Airways, which could see the airline pay out up to £12m in benefits. In a two-against-one decision, Lord Justice Patten dismissed the appeal while Lord Justices Lewison and Peter Jackson both elected to permit […]

In the wake of the decade’s most important case concerning legal privilege, an arrest warrant has been issued against the CEO of the Eurasian Natural Resource Corporation (ENRC)’s parent company as part of the Serious Fraud Office’s ongoing investigation into a string of allegations. The warrant was issued against Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) CEO Benedikt […]

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is advising Facebook in the ongoing probe into its data protection breaches, as it faces a £500,000 fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Co-chair of the firm’s international arbitration practice group, dispute resolution partner Penny Madden is leading for Facebook in London, following a report by the ICO that claims […]

Litigation boutique Hausfeld has filed a class action claim in the High Court for German car manufacturer BMW against two maritime transport companies, which were fined by the European Commission earlier this year for price-fixing. The firm filed the claim on 10 July in what is its third major class-action case, following earlier work against […]

Mishcon de Reya clients Unaoil Monaco and Unaoil are the latest defendants to be drawn in to the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) investigation into alleged conspiracy over the award of contracts in Iraq. Longtime Unaoil adviser and Mishcon partner Jo Rickards will lead for the firm in a case which already sees US outfits White & […]

Pinsent Masons and 3 Verulam Buildings (3VB) took the lead roles for Portuguese banking group Novo Banco as it fought off two claims from a string of litigation heavyweights in the Supreme Court. Lord Sumption handed down the judgment in the Supreme Court, dismissing an appeal to an earlier decision over a liability transferred to […]

Jones Day, Linklaters and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have failed to secure victory for clients Mastercard and Visa in their ongoing row with British retailers over interchange fees. In February 2017, Mr Justice Popplewell threw out a £450m claim made on behalf of retailers such as ASDA and Morrisons alleging that Mastercard charged anti-competitive […]

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has successfully fought off Stephenson Harwood to defend a €2bn counterclaim against its Abu Dhabi-headquartered client Aabar Investments in the High Court. Aabar had found itself locked in a battle with former co-investor Edgeworth Capital – a Luxembourg corporate with ties to high-profile real estate mogul Robert Tchenguiz – over a €200m investment in defaulting […]

As one of the decade’s most anticipated cases over legal privilege kicks off, Dechert has labelled claims against the firm, partner Neil Gerrard and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) by the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) as “embarrassing” and denied multiple allegations of wrongdoing. Documents seen by The Lawyer show that Dechert’s lawyers – thought to be Clyde […]

Hogan Lovells has successfully fought for a 15-month probationary licence for long-standing client Uber, though the taxi app was ordered to pay Transport for London’s (TfL) costs as part of the decision. The taxi firm’s willingness to improve its culture, governance and management were all key factors pointed to by senior district Judge Emma Arbuthnot […]

Advertising agency WPP has hired Slaughter and May and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy to investigate the source of a string of anonymous emails sent following Sir Martin Sorrell’s departure in April. Slaughters and Milbank are thought to be advising advertising agency WPP after current and former staff received anonymous and intimidating messages on WhatsApp and via […]

The $1.5bn dispute between three Russian oligarchs has ended in a unanimous High Court decision in favour of Macfarlanes and Maitland Chambers client Oleg Deripaska over a right of first refusal clause in a Russian mining company’s shares. Macfarlanes partners Iain Mackie and Simon Nurney instructed Maitland Chambers’ Christopher Pymont QC, David Mumford QC, Thomas […]

The latest judgment in a string of employment tribunal hearings has seen DLA Piper defeated by Leigh Day as couriers for delivery company Hermes were judged to be workers, not independent contractors. The group claim from 65 Hermes couriers was heard at Leeds Employment Tribunal during April and May, and supported by trade union GMB, for […]

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is to step down from representing oligarch Viktor Vekselberg from September, triggering a search for new legal counsel. The move comes as sanctions imposed by President Trump’s administration continue to have an effect on high-stakes litigation worldwide. It is understood that the firm has been granted a temporary licence by the […]